Customer Reviews

The Unknown Craftsman: A Japanese Insight into Beauty

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Soon after getting into custom furniture and cabinetmaking as a profession, I had come to that point where I began to tie my sense of self-worth to what other people thought of my work. Even worse, I began to feel that I was in a competition with my fellow woodworkers. Not only did I want their approval, but I thought I must strive to be better than them or I wouldn't achieve distinction (and therefore success). Then, via my explorations into Buddhism, I came across this book. It presented me with a heaping, much-needed serving of humble pie by telling me things like:

"A beautiful work of art...is the work of a man who is not (bound to) either beauty and ugliness or even to himself."

Yanagi was talking about the craftsman of Japan's past who, working with "total disengagement", created some of the most beautiful art objects the world has ever seen. This work was never signed because these were the products of craftsman who "made no effort to express their individuality through the medium of things; (instead) they produced things through the medium of man". As my understanding of Buddhism deepened, so didn't the import of these words. The bottom line was that I relaxed, I let myself enjoy the process and I let the objects I made speak for themselves. Humble pie never tasted so good.

Yanagi's words are so dense, packed, and rich with meaning. He has keen insights into what real 'seeing' is, and how necessary it is in discerning beauty. But Yanagi's words run beyond insight, and have some of that deep ring of eternal 'Truth' to them. I highly recommmend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about what true 'seeing' is, and how it relates to the perception of beauty.

This remarkable, must-have book is half superb pictures of various Oriental objects of manufacture become recognized as quintessentially "unselfconscious" objects of art (the one of the "top" teacup in Japan alone is worth the book's price), and half short but very eye-opening essays on various dimensions of beauty, creativity, and the aesthetic experience.

MUCH generally accepted superficiality (and downright phoniness) in the field of art appreciation is solidly debunked here (read the other reviews for more on the author's qualifications, plus some relatively piddling criticism from a few specialists).

The pieces on the degeneration of the so-called "classic" Tea Ceremony and the cult of deliberate "beauty of ugliness" will provide much food for thought. Anyone interested in beauty and its representations will do very well indeed to acquire this truly irreplaceable read.

I too wish the book were 10 times as long! I believe it was out of print for awhile -- great to see it available new from Amazon at a reasonable price.

Oh -- on second thought, DO just buy this title, rather than borrow one first -- my copy is so heavily marked up that it would have been agony to have read a library copy....

I know very little about pottery but I have spent a lot of reading time studying Buddhism and specifically Zen and its underlying life philosophy. I found these essays to be especially beautiful in showing the way for artists and craftsmen to embrace 'no-mindedness' in their creative efforts, effacing their own egos and personalities in order to let nature flow through them in the creative process.

'Objects born, not made' is an especially humbling concept to consider. To think that the objects are 'born' through nature and the craftsman is mostly a mere vehicle for that, his signature on 'his' work completely unncessary, the object itself being the 'signature'.

I was pleased to see in the next to last essay in this collection, the author's references to the 'Way of Tea' and its demonstration of the same principles embodied in this work. I strongly recommend 'The Book of Tea' by Okakuro Kakuzo as an adjunct to this material, amplifying his ideas and further reflecting the beauty of Zen.

My only objection, and this is really minor, is this work's subtitle 'A Japanese Insight into Beauty'. As many Japanese are not Buddhist and do not embrace the Zen philosophy, nor understand it, this insight is not so much 'Japanese' as 'Zen'. Thus the finer subtitle could have been 'A Zen Insight into Beauty'.

I approached Soetsu Yanagi's The Unknown Craftsman as a potter and university art student who has repeatedly been told by other potters and craftsman that this is a must-have book. The Unknown Craftsman plays a vital part in developing a further understanding of ceramic history (including the Mingei movement), Japanese influence in western pottery practices, and the philosophical approach that some potters take in relation to their work. I enjoyed Yanagi's views and insights as I read his essays looking for respect and appreciation for the rich tradition that has influenced functional pottery. He presents a great "...insight into Beauty" (as the books is subtitled) from a Buddhist point of view. I specifically loved his thoughts about what it means to `see' an object and the importance of viewing things a whole, instead of just in parts. In the majority of his essays, Yanagi did a good job of speaking to his western audience in a way that was fairly easy to understand.

My only disappointment in The Unknown Craftsman arose when I began to read Yanagi's essays while searching for a better understanding of contemporary ceramic art. Much of what he said wasn't applicable, or I just flat out didn't agree with. In the end I concluded that wanting one book to answer all my questions about ceramic art and how it fits into current art trends (or is left out of them), was probably a bit too high of an expectation. After all, that was not Yanagi's point in writing. I was probably searching for answers in the wrong book.

I would recommend this book. If you are interested in gaining a better understanding or appreciation of craft or a deeper appreciation for what it means to be a craftsman, The Unknown Craftsman is a must-read.

My interest is woodwork that is made within the traditions of Japanese woodworking techniques though not necessarily replicating traditional Japanese designs or style. While I have been happy with the aesthetics of objects I've been making, I haven't really understood the sometimes muted reactions from some of my Japanese friends. I've been to Yanagi's Folkcraft Museum in Tokyo and to a museum to the work of Kanjiro Kawai (a close friend of Soetsu Yanagi) in Kyoto and so have first hand experience of the pottery and woodwork objects that have inspired or been made by these men. However, it was only when I read "The Unknown Craftsman" that I was able to fully appreciate and to attempt to translate into my own work, Yanagi's "insight into beauty". From the book, it is apparent that Yanaki had a broad exposure to both Japanese and Western culture and philosophy and as a result, I feel that the principles that Yanagi describes are as applicable to western craft objects as they are to those of Japanese origin.

This is one of the few great books. My copy is worn out, stained, covered with notes. It brings together in a new way ideas from Zen, Taoism, Pure Land Buddhism, and the crafts heritage of Morris and Ruskin. It is more than a book about craft: it is a book about enlightenment and the world "before duality". It deals in profound ways with the nature of tradition and what Yanagi saw as the roles of the ancient craft worker and the modern artist.

Leach and Hamada (Yanagi's co-workers, and inheritors) have commented elsewhere that the only real thing missing from Yanagi's legacy is more emphasis on how the modern individual artist is to cope with the situation of modernity. This may be. But one can't have everything. It is the task of others to go on and figure it out: a task to be carried out in the daily work. Yanagi did his own work, and it's a blessing......

This book offers an insight into an Eastern approach to beauty and what defines it. In the West we're constantly in this persuit of "perfection", maybe because of our religion, in our work as artists. Basically, we have a culturally imposed standard to our work and the things we posses. This book teaches the beauty of imperfection and humility. He shows examples of pottery and other crafts to illustrate his point. It helped me to let go of my idea of what my work should look like, and the beauty of letting it evolve "by grace" or naturally. The appreciation of the old and worn or even slightly broken. My example would be, if you were to hang a picture on your wall of either a brand new house in an emaculate yard or a painting of an old, somewhat worn down barn covered in vines in field of tall grass, which would you choose? Clearly, the first would be hideous and yet that's what our culture is taught is attractive.

This book was written by the father of the crafts movement in Japan, Yanagi Soetsu. He encouraged the Japanese to appreciate their national arts at a time of modernization and Westernization in Japan. The book covers areas of craft such as cermaics and lacquers.